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Synopsis

This NFU film presents the funeral of Tongan Queen Sālote Tupou III in December 1965. Queen Sālote had a special bond with New Zealand — she studied at Auckland Diocesan School, spent summers in NZ and lived her last days at 'Atalanga, the Tongan residence in Auckland. Among the 50,000 mourners at her funeral in Tonga were NZ Governor General Sir Bernard Fergusson, Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and Norman Kirk. Tongan tradition holds that the casket must never pass through a gateway; 108 pall bearers carried it over walls in a procession to the royal tombs.

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Comments (7)

Anthony

Posted at 10.27AM - 21.03.2014

I find it really interesting that there was such a strong bias towards Britain in this film. Also the inaccurate pronunciations of the narrator should be addressed, as Tongans growing up needed to learn "proper" English then in return Britain or any partnering country should learn "proper" Tongan. Don't cultural exchanges need to be mutual and equitable?

While documenting the Queen Salote, it would be just as gratifying to hear a perspective from Tongans. There is a difference between an ally documenting in a shared experience such as a funeral.

Vai

Posted at 03.19PM - 30.08.2012

was shocked to come across this while searching up articles/documents for an assignment. happy i got to see a bit of our history :)

Langilangi Fonua

Posted at 07.28AM - 17.04.2012

great appreciations for this valuable window being opened that I glimpse a spec of my past...!!!

Kato

Posted at 10.02AM - 16.04.2012

thanks a trillion for sharing this video with all Tongans etc abroad! May God bless you all :-)